The sad tale of the sports facility in Lower Don Lands is a prime example of why Toronto will never be a great city.

Noted architect Ken Greenberg has resigned from an architectural firm working on plans to fit a sports complex and hockey arena into the Lower Don Lands redevelopment. He argues the facility is far too large for the space being considered.

This is a story about why Toronto is not and never will be a great city. It is a tale of mediocrity told by a cast of characters ranging from our high-profile mayor, David Miller, to a faceless but senior bureaucrat named Richard Butts.

The plot revolves around a proposed sports complex on the Lower Don Lands, yet its significance goes well beyond the waterfront. In its own way, it is an allegory of a city where expediency beats excellence every time.

The story goes back a decade with the formation of Waterfront Toronto. Created by the three levels of government, its mandate was to revitalize the former industrial lands along the shores of Lake Ontario. To that purpose, design competitions were organized and plans drawn up. That process continues, but remaking the waterfront will take 20 or 30 years.

In the meantime, facing pressure from the local sport lobby, especially the girls’ hockey contingent, the city decided the Lower Don Lands would be an ideal location for a four-rink facility and the 440 parking spots that would come with it.

Waterfront planners liked the idea, but worried the scheme would be more appropriate in a suburban setting, not a sustainable, mixed-use urban community on the water’s edge. These reservations were about design, not use. Though these objections were dealt with, the city said no.

“The sports complex doesn’t negatively impact the Lower Don Lands Plan,” Butts, an assistant deputy city manager, insists. “This is a good opportunity to meet the needs of a broad spectrum of people.”

Internationally respected architect/planner, Ken Greenberg, agrees with Butts that the complex represents an opportunity, but not in the form Butts wants. That’s why Greenberg, who was part of the design team, resigned abruptly last month.

As he wrote in his letter resignation, “it appears that this chance to do something innovative and of great quality is being squandered.”

“Effective city building,” Greenberg noted, “means keeping overlapping goals in balance. In this case the value of the opportunity which is being sacrificed is substantial, both in terms of the long term viability and sustainability of this critical part of the Lower Don Lands Plan … including the loss of potential for successful mixed-use redevelopment of valuable waterfront land on a future Light Rail Transit Line….”

Councillor Adam Vaughan goes further: “It’s a slap in the face of efforts to build a beautiful waterfront,” he argues. “It’s a waste of land and a great plan. If this were a Home Depot, the whole city would be up in arms. But because it’s hockey, no one says a word.”

“I know there’s a lot of pressure for more ice capacity,” says Councillor Paula Fletcher, whose ward includes the site, “but it can’t be at the expense of good planning.”

What many Torontonians don’t know, however, is that Toronto’s planning department reports to Butts, whose background is in garbage collection.

“I’m not a planner,” he admits. “I rely on the advice of others. I’ve received advice that the sports complex is compatible with the Lower Don Lands Plan.”

And where’s the mayor in all this? Miller, the jock who fought hard to get a seat on the board of Waterfront Toronto, refuses to speak publicly about the sports complex. Despite repeated calls to his office, he remains silent.

And so, after 10 years of hard work, the city is right back where it started building big box facilities surrounded by acres of surface parking lot on the waterfront.

“It’s stupid,” says Vaughan. And, one might add, sad.

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